ARA Gómez Roca
|Ship name=''Gómez Roca |Ship namesake= Sergio Gómez Roca |Ship owner= |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=*Astilleros y Fábricas Navales del Estado, *Ensenada, Buenos Aires Province |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=7 June 1983 |Ship launched=14 November 1984 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=2005 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= |Ship status=Active |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} |module2= |Ship displacement = 1,560 tons (1,790 tons full load) |Ship length = |Ship beam = |Ship height = |Ship draught = (hull) |Ship power = |Ship propulsion = 2 × SEMT Pielstick 16 PC 2-5 V400 diesels, 2 × 5-blade props |Ship speed = |Ship range = at |Ship endurance = |Ship complement =11 officers, 46 petty officers, 36 enlisted |Ship sensors =*Thales DA-05/2 air/surface search *Thales WM-28, LIROD fire control *Consilium Selesmar NavBat *Atlas AQS-1 hull MF sonar |Ship EW =*Decca RDC-2ABC *Decca RCM-2 jammer *2 × Matra Dagaie decoys |Ship armament =*4 × MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles *1 × 76 mm/62 OTO Melara dual purpose gun *2 × DARDO twin 40 mm AA guns *2 × .50cal machine guns *2 × triple 324 mm ILAS-3 tubes (WASS A-244S torpedoes) |Ship armour = |Ship aircraft = 1 × Eurocopter Fennec |Ship aircraft facilities = Helideck and telescoping hangar |Ship notes = }} }} ARA ''Gómez Roca'' (P-46) is the sixth and last ship of the MEKO 140A16 of six corvettes built in Germany for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the first ship to bear the name of Lieutenant Commander Sergio Gómez Roca, who commanded the Argentine patrol ship during the Falklands War and died in action when the ship was attacked by Royal Navy helicopters. Originally the ship was to have been named Seaver after Captain Benjamin Seaver, a US-born naval hero of the Argentine War of Independence. Origin Gómez Roca and her sister ships were part of the 1974 Naval Constructions National Plan, an initiative by the Argentine Navy to replace old World War II-vintage ships with more advanced warships. The original plan called for six MEKO 360H2 destroyers, four of them to be built in Argentina, but the plan was later modified to include four MEKO destroyers and six corvettes for anti-surface warfare and patrol operations. Construction Gómez Roca was constructed at the Río Santiago Shipyards of the Astilleros y Fábricas Navales del Estado (State Shipyards and Naval Factories) state corporation. Her keel was laid down on 7 June 1983 and was launched on 14 November 1984. Fitting out of Gómez Roca and her sister ship was suspended in 1992, briefly resumed in July 1994 and finally started again on 18 July 1997. Following the resumption of construction, the ship was delivered to the Navy in 2004 and commissioned in 2005. Both Robinson and Gómez Roca benefitted from their construction delay with better automation, communication and electronic systems than their four sister ships. As with and Robinson, Gómez Roca is fitted with a telescopic hangar. Service history Following her commissioning Gómez Roca participated in several naval exercises and conducted fishery patrol duties in the Argentine exclusive economic zone. She is homeported at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base and is part of the Navy's 2nd Corvette Division with her five sister ships. In March 2010, she operated with during the Gringo-Gaucho / Southern Seas 2010 exercises as the aircraft carrier transited around South America to her new home base at San Diego. References * Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, , Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text) Category:Espora-class corvettes Category:Ships built in Argentina Category:1984 ships Category:Active corvettes of Argentina